Ramaphosa accepts resignations of 4 SABC board
members

Eyewitness News has confirmed that Mathatha Tsedu is the latest to jump ship after

President Cyril Ramaphosa. Picture: Department of International Relations and Cooperation

JOHANNESBURG – President Cyril Ramaphosa has confirmed and accepted the resignations of four South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) board members.

Eyewitness News has confirmed that Mathatha Tsedu is the latest to jump ship.

“We can confirm that the president has received four letters of resignation from members of the SABC board; that’s Miss Khanyisile Kweyama, Krish Naidoo and John Matisonn as well as Mr Mathatha Tsedu. The president has accepted these resignations and will be writing to the speaker, as appointing authority, to inform Parliament of these resignations,” says the Presidency’s Khusela Diko.

In June 2017, the contract was awarded to Mafoko even though the company came second in the bidding process.

However, the SABC says the SIU investigation has nothing to do with the resignations.

“The resignation has nothing to do with this matter of a security contract. That’s always been the issue that the SIU has been investigating. There’s no link between the two,” SABC board’s spokesperson Tebogo Malatjie says.

LISTEN: Understanding the events unfolding at SABC

Earlier on Wednesday, EWN revealed the contents of the resignation letters of Khanyisile Kweyama, Krish Naidoo and John Matisonn.

They’ve decided to step down while the public broadcaster remains locked in a tussle with newly-appointed Communications Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams over retrenchments of permanent and freelance staff.

The minister wrote a letter to the board over the weekend in which she declared her intention to stop engaging with the board because of its determination to forge ahead with retrenchments.

These resignation letters gave insight into the deep disagreements over retrenchments at the public broadcaster.

Naidoo suggested in his resignation letter that the breakdown in the relationship with the minister is because of the board’s inability to understand the difference between accountability and political interference.

Matisonn’s letter made it clear he disagrees with the board’s direction and its refusal to suspend retrenchments.